The shot, arranged during a timeout and destined for a place in the pantheon of great Cameron moments, came with 21 seconds to go and Duke trailing Florida by two points, the Gators’ only lead of the second half.
The ball went to the top of the key to Isaiah Evans. Even after missing his previous seven 3-pointers, the sophomore guard sank the decisive shot without hesitation, securing a 67-66 Duke victory.
“For me, that’s as loud as I have heard Cameron,” Jon Scheyer, who’s been attending games at Duke for nearly two decades, said of the crowd reaction.
Evans’ jumper will be long remembered, as will the Blue Devils’ successful handling of a fraught late-game situation, something they failed to accomplish in last year’s Final Four against Houston.
Yet it was with 5:51 that Evans made a quietly key contribution, converting a pair of free throws, everyone else stepping aside after a deadball technical foul was called on Florida’s Thomas Haugh. The foul shots helped Duke keep its narrowing lead, which minutes later vanished entirely.
In case there was any doubt, those uncontested swishes, made under pressure and with Scheyer’s blessing as the team’s designated free thrower, ratified Evans’ stature at the line. Just don’t be surprised if his foul shooting prowess officially pops in and out of sight after wandering in statistical limbo, caught short of ACC leadership but notable nonetheless.
So far this year Evans has poised at the edge of an invisible stat zone, his disposition in official standings a matter to be determined as more games are played.
Evans remains the Devils’ most dangerous 3-point shooter. Comparably impressive, the 6-6 product of Fayetteville, N.C., has made one more free throw than the 3-pointers for which he’s known. His 21 of 24 shooting from the line is a team-best .875. Last season Evans got into the action about a third of the time (13.6-minute average) and hit a promising .813 of his foul shots.
Through eight games this go-round, despite hitting at a .905 clip entering the Florida game, Evans failed to appear among the official ACC leaders because he converted only 2.4 free throws per game. The official minimum per NCAA standards is 2.5 makes. He’s still not there; after the matchup with the defending champs his 21 free throws in nine games marked a yield of only 2.3 per outing.
And so the Devils’ premier free throw option remains officially unremarked.
Evans has worked on expanding his game, especially by attacking the basket off the dribble. As his offensive repertoire grows Evans can expect to get sent to the line more frequently. Last year he earned 32 free throws in 36 games, having tried all but 34 of 183 field goals from long range.
Clearly an enhanced emphasis on offensive diversification will make a difference this year, both in getting to the line and when Evans’ threes aren’t falling.
| LOST IN STAT LIMBO Top Duke Free Thrower, Pct. By Year Since 2010 (Asterisk Means Not Official Qualifier) |
||
|---|---|---|
| Pct. | Player, Season | FTM-FTA |
| .875 | Isaiah Evans, 2026# | 21-24 |
| .914 | Kon Knueppel, 2025 | 117-128 |
| .885 | Jared McCain, 2024* | 77-87 |
| .871 | Tyrese Proctor, 2023* | 61-70 |
| .805 | Wendell Moore, Jr., 2022 | 95-118 |
| .848 | Wendell Moore, Jr. 2021* | 39-46 |
| .806 | Wendell Moore, Jr., 2020 | *54-67 |
| .758 | Tre Jones, 2019 | 108-140 |
| .876 | Gary Trent, Jr., 2018* | 85-97 |
| .854 | Luke Kennard, 2017 | 160-187 |
| .889 | Luke Kennard, 2016* | 88-99 |
| .891 | Quinn Cook, 2015 | 98-110 |
| .827 | Quinn Cook, 2014* | 67-81 |
| .877 | Quinn Cook, 2013* | 64-73 |
| .873 | Seth Curry, 2012 | 103-118 |
| .901 | Kyrie Irving, 2011* | 64-71 |
| .878 | Jon Scheyer, 2010 | 194-221 |
| # Through 9 games. | ||
